This is another victory for adult stem cell research. As I have said in
previous comments, while the much more morally questionable embryonic stem
cell research remains in its infancy, adult stem cell research -- to which
there is no ethical dilemma attached -- is already being used to better
people's lives worldwide.

Even more importantly, if I have understood this article correctly, this
operation overcame one the biggest problems that is associated with organ
transplants: rejection of the donated organ by the body's own immune system.

Because the boy's own stem cells were grafted onto the donated windpipe, and
then allowed to continue to develop and grow within his body, his body
treated the windpipe as if it were his own organ. Now THAT is significant
progress, and offers a lot of hope and promise for so many other people!

As I point out in my article "Organ Transplants And Blood
Transfusions", the
one remaining issue for me personally is the idea of putting someone else's
organ in my body. It still strikes me as being a bit bizarre and grotesque,
particularly if the organ happens to be from a dead person. Others may feel
differently.


Stem cells used to repair boy's windpipe

Child from Northern Ireland becomes first in the world to undergo pioneering
surgery at Great Ormond Street hospital

The Guardian

August 6, 2010


Pioneering surgery to rebuild an 11-year-old boy's windpipe using his own
stem cells was hailed a success today as he prepared to leave hospital.

Ciaran Finn-Lynch became the first child in the world to undergo the
pioneering trachea transplant in March and is now preparing to return home
to Northern Ireland.

Doctors at Great Ormond Street hospital in London took stem cells from the
youngster's bone marrow and injected them into a donor windpipe which had
been stripped of its own cells.

They implanted the organ and allowed the stem cells to transform themselves
in his own body, avoiding the potential problem of Ciaran's immune system
rejecting the organ.

Great Ormond Street said that the transplant was considered a success four
weeks ago after doctors proved the blood supply had returned to the trachea.

Ciaran's parents, Colleen and Paul, now hope to take him home for the first
time since November. They said the last few months had been a
"rollercoaster" and paid tribute to the surgeons who saved their son.

Ciaran was born with a condition called long segment tracheal stenosis,
which leaves sufferers with a very narrow windpipe - in his case just 1mm
across - making breathing extremely difficult.

He had surgery to reconstruct his airways but, when he was two and a half, a
metal stent used to hold his airway open eroded into his aorta, a major
artery. He went through more surgery, and finally left hospital after eight
months.

Ciaran lived a full and active life until November last year when a stent
again started to erode, causing a "massive bleed".

His mother said: "I'd bought him a new shirt and he came downstairs with it
on. The next moment there was blood coming from everywhere.

"There was so much blood I couldn't give him any breaths, I really thought I
had lost him."

As options for Ciaran ran out, his specialists turned to pioneering stem
cell treatment.

The surgery had been tried in Spain in 2008 on mother-of-two Claudia
Castillo - the first person to receive a transplant organ created from stem
cells - but Ciaran was to be the first child.

While Castillo's organ was grown outside her body, his was "seeded" then
transplanted into his body, where it was allowed to grow.

Ciaran went under the knife in March, four weeks after a donor trachea was
found in Italy, and now doctors have confirmed his new windpipe is working
well.

"We didn't have much choice when it came to the operation," his
mother said.
"If Ciaran had one more bleed I don't think he would have made it."

She said they had "100% faith" in the transplant team, led by Professor
Martin Elliott.

"When they initially suggested the procedure we agreed to it, knowing it
would be the first time it had been tried in a child, as we have 100% faith
in them and the work they do.

"They were the best people in the world to treat our son."

She said Ciaran's recovery had been "up and down" but he kept his spirits
up.

"Because it's so new, nobody knows what's ahead, or how long his full
recovery is going to be, but we are on the right road now," she said.

"We're just so grateful, we are delighted they gave Ciaran a chance, we've
got our boy back."

Ciaran, who turned 11 last month, is likely to return to school in
September.

A keen drummer, he is most excited about being able to play in his band
again, and even started practising with a lesson in the hospital's intensive
care unit recently.

He was also kept smiling with a visit from comedy star Alan Carr, he said.

Elliott said: "He is a wonderful boy who has become a great friend to us
all, and he and his infinitely patient family have charmed us all.

"His recovery has been complicated, as one might expect for a new procedure,
and we have kept him under close surveillance, hence the length of time he
has been here.

"It is wonderful to see him active, smiling and breathing normally. We are
very proud of him."

He said Ciaran would need regular follow-ups to check on his progress and to
learn what to expect for the next patient who may need the innovative
therapy.

"The treatment offers hope to many whose major airways were previously
considered untreatable or irreplaceable," Elliott added.

"We will continue to work with our colleagues in regenerative medicine
throughout the world to ensure we can continue to improve both the science
and treatment options."



Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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